Street-car and similar vehicle.



G. 0. WING & P. W. HBMPY.

STREET CAR AND SIMILAR VEHICLE.

APPLICATION FILED IAB. 10, 1908.

Patented Aug.2, 1910.

Q? Q W G N a WITNESSES:

G. C. WING & F. W. HEMPY.

STREET CAR AND SIMILAR VEHICLE.

LPPLIOATIOH FILED MAE. 10I 1909.

. Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

2 8HEETSSHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

l/WE TORS 22M ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

GEORGE C. WING AND FREDERICK W. HEMPY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNORS T0 -SAID WING, TRUSTEE.

STREET-CAR AND SIMILAR VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2, 1910.

Application filed March 1051909. Serial No. 482,562.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it. known that we, Gnonon C. ise

and Farm-anon V. Henri, both citizens of the tfnited Stategresiding at the city of Cleveland. in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have together invented a new and useful Improvement in Street-Cars and Similar Vehicles, as to which we hereby declnre the following to be a full, clear, and exact description, due reference being had to the several drawings accompanying and making a part of the specification, wherein it is t) be understood similar refernce-letters are in each case used to denote similar parts.

' Our invention applies and more especially relates to the requirements of street car service in modern cities or large popular centers,

wvhere congestion occurs, and is to be relieved, either occasionally, as to and from excursion or exhibition points, base-ball games. and other gathering-places, and attractions,- or, regularly, during the rushhours at the general close of business. On these occasions, the first demand is not so much the manner and comfort, as the promptness and speed with which passengers are handled. and. few 1t any, enter a car tit-these times-with any expectation of ,Inllllllfl a seat. 01 without being fully prepared to stand during the whole or the greater part of the transit. This now thormighty recognized and accepted condition of ourse works injusticelmrlcr modern railway systems. which. because of the prevailing type of vehicles used, take no account of the difference in the treatment passengers receive, and, at the same time, impose the some taritl', alike on those who stand, i more. as on the more fortunate who on- 'joy :L'Rlth and a correspondingly increased comfort to their Jonrnews end. c

It is the pin-pose of our present invention to provide a car that is adapted to the emergency conditions in ti-attic above referred to, and which shall so standardize and eoalalizce such conditions, that trans- .portation com panies may take advantage of the recognized willingness of the traveling public to stand, on occasion, and, by' emloying our form oficar, be able to make a ow-fare-to such class of its patrons as compared-with the fare on cars where seats are provided; X further and, perhaps, greater value of the invention, is the large increase in the passenger capacity of cars thereby to be obtained, and, the consequent ability to reduce congestion along illiD'Cl lines, and, to a degree, that will go far toward solving a problem of rapidly growing importance in all cities, but which, hitherto, has been without the power of trailic managers to meet.

In the several drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a car, with an interior view through a broken portion thereof. Fig. 2 is a floor-plan view of a car, covering our invention, when one side is arranged for sitting and the other side for standing passengers. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a dif ferent arrangement for the same nrposc. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of ig. 2 on the line 2 3 thereof, in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary front View of the end of a specific form of collapsible seat, applicable to saidcar. The view is of a seat when opened, Whether the sameis lengthwise or cross-wise of a car. Fig. 6 is an end view-of Fig. Fig. 7 is a. like view .of the seat shown in Fig. 5, when col-' lapsed and, Fig. 8 is a sectional view, 1n the direction of the arrows, on the lines a, z, of F 1g. 6. V A

U 15 a car as a whole of the type and, sumiar to those in general use, except in the respects hereinafter more particularly pointed out. Referring to Fi 2 the interior planthere displayed is o? a specific form or adaptation of our invention. It consists, in. the first instance, of a series of rigid upright balustrade-like supports or sections that extend at-intervals from 'thesides of the car toward the middle, at right angles to said sides. In the figures these supports are made up of a horizontal hand-ra1l D, firmly af-' fixed to the side of the car, at one end, at a height; from the floor to be conveniently grasped by a passenger when standing, and

by upright balusters or posts D. The latter are likewise rigidly fastened to the tioor at their lower ends. The intervals, or spaces, between these several divisional members of the series in question, may be as desired, but,v doubtless, will usually be made of a width to comfortably accommodate two people when side by side cross-wise of thesame,

and of a depth, transversely of the car, to pereople to stand alon and against mit two each han -rail of any pair or said rails or supports in the series. Further, said intcr- 1 other passengers.

vals must not be so Wide that, when the space -is without a seat, or its seat is collapsed, a passenger cannot reach and grasp one of said handrests. or divisional members, when standing between a given pair of the same. in this arrangement, as will be manifest, not only is a firnn support provided for standing passengers, but also, as is most important under such conditions, the mass of passengers itself is thereby divided up into small units andthe individuals composing each unit securely protected in their places against crowding or disturbance by A passageway, or aisle M, may be left as shown centrally of the car between the two series of supports just. described. Beneath said hand-rails 1), lengthwise ot' the car, along its sides, are arranged collapsible seats or benches S. .\s indicated in the figures these seats are, in this case, composed of one continuous piece S, but, it will manifest that,'said piece may be broken up in o several separate and shorter benches, or seats, each of which is constructed substantially as when but one long bench-like member is used. Said seat, or part S, is shown (Figs. 2, 4-, 5, 6) as fastened, y downwardly closing hinges H, to a back piece B, that extends along the side of the car throughout its length. This back-piece reaches to the floor, except at the end'swhere it is cut away, or-notched, vertically through the lower portion! as at It, to receive the leg L of the seat, when the seat is collapsed. It is evident that provision may be made for this purposein other ways. as, for instance, by having recesses or mortise-like spaces in said part B, or by allowing said part to extend no lower than the point at which the seats, is hinged thereto. Said seat S, just described, is shown as supported by legs L, fastened to the same by inwardly closing hinges h. The length of the legs will, of course, hear such proportion to the width of the seat 5', that when folded beneath the same they will lie flatly against the under face of the seat. In order to steady the legs in their operative position pivots P are laced in their; lower ends to fit into holes in the ear floor. Of course suitable means of latching or locking the seats S in their collapsed places will be provided.

Another arrangement of the same nature as the above, is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 wherein the seats, instead of running lengthwise of the car, run transversely or crosswise thereof, toward the central passage, in the manner in familiar use. Here the backs of the seats S (Figs. 5, 6, 7) also serve-as the" divisional supports and rests -for the as'sengers'-i-n lace of the o en hand-rai mg made up o D and D'w ten the ,car is converted trom a seated to a seatless condition. The said back piece B, when extended to the floor, may be firmly fas seats.

tened thereto, by the outer and inner bracket A and A (Figs. 6, T and 8). In the drawings the bracket A (Fig. 8) extends across, or overlaps. the notched space, on the piece B. above described. The details shown in the drawings, as explanatory of the car when equipped with longitudinal seats, are also applicable, for the purpose, to the arrangement now under consideration. In the latter case, the seats do not extend beneath said supports. but collapse against, or within the latter, which. as said. compose the back itself for the seats when these are brought into use.

The seats shown in. the drawings are collapsed, of course, by simply pressing the lets L inwardly, along the dashed line in Fig. G. beneath and against the hinged seat S, which is then allowed to fall (in the direction of the dotted line of Fig. 6) into a vertical position, within the notched end of the back B. The operation will likewist carry and include the legs L, whose heels or without being free to vibrate or rattle. It 15 evident, of course, that by the arrangements explained. a car may be readily converted from a car with seats to one without, but adapted to standing passengers, and, vice versa. Such conversion. however.

it will 'be understood, in no case need be en tire in order to fill the requirements of and embrace our invention. as it is intended to claim the same, for, the invention equally covers the application of the supports described to a car that is rovided at the same time, ihroughone portion. with fixed seats. and. through another, with said supports either with or without collapsible seats ((Hl' nected therewith. modification or application 'of the idea has especial value also in connection with the rear or front platform of street ears. for the. accommodation of passengers standing there, or as adjunetive to pay-cuter systems. Thus, a very practical and desirable arrangement and combination would be to have a series of crossseats at one part of the :11, on one or both sides of the central aisle, and our rigid transverse hand-rests, as tributary thereto, across the aisle, or forwardly, or at the rear of such seats; or, to equi one ortion of the floor space. with a longitudina side-seat, or seats. or, with both longitud nal and cross seats. and the remaining portion with said supports at rightangles to and perhaps extending above and across the longitudinal A car that dispenses with seats, according to our invention, and is equipped wlth rigid or firm supports of any character that Wlll enable passengers to uphold and steady .n. mm. ..........L

themselves in a standin posture, is, in itself, a highly useful an complete instrumentality in the art concerned. The feature,however, of convertibility, that the in vention furtherv includes, is of great additional value, in a commercial sense, espe cially, inasmuch as it enables the same car, that has performed emergency service as a low-fare stand-up car, when such emergency or service is over, for the time being, to be at once used, as an ordinary passenger car fully equipped with seats and other accommodations of high-fare cars. The car itself, by reason of its convertibility, is thus always in commission, and, unlike snowplows, sprinklers and other strictly emergencymr. intermittent properties of a transportation company, it will have no idle periods but can be kept in continuous and productive use.

It will be obvious ,that the various details we have here shown, are not to be taken as limitations of our invention in the broader sense. Any vehicle for the transportation of passengers, whether a street car, subwaycar, automobile or other conveyance that is provided with firm or rigid' supports or bearings whereby the passengers can steady themselves in an upright or standing position, on route, and resist being unduly swayed, staggered or carried from their places by the mass or the motion, is equally within the invention as broadly claimed, and. this, without regard to the particular methods or manner of collapsing the seats, or whether seats areused or provided at all. It is likewise not intended to restrict the supports or bearixigs referred to to any particular material, like wood or metal, but taut ropes, for instance, it is conceivable might be employed as such supports without a depart urefrom the idea sought to be patented. Said supports are to be considered as transverse. in the sense intended in these specifications whether they extend clear across the floor-space or over but a portion thereof as when an aisle, either centrally or at the sides, intervenes. v

It is to be understood that we do not intend to cover by the foregoing description nor to include in our invention as herein claimed, but to distinctly disclaim, rigid supports for standing passengers, or any combination of which such supports are an element, when they serve as transverse members of a series or system of supports for standing passengers in direct connectionand what we desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. The combination of a street-car, or similar vehicle, provided with seats along the sides longitudinally of said car, and a series or parallelly arranged hand-rests for standing passengers in front of said seats and transversely of said car, substantially as shown and described.

2. In combination with a street-car, or similar passenger vehicle, provided with a series of transversely arranged hand-rails, a collapsible seat through and beneath said handrails, substantially as shown and de-. scribed.

3. In combination with a streetcar, or similar assenger vehicle, provided with a series 0 transversely arranged handrails, a collapsible seat throu h and beneath said handrails -lon 'tudina y of said car, substantially as own and described.

4. A street car or similar vehiclediaving transverse handrests at suitable distances one fromthe other to be reached and grasped by pas-.eugers when standing at any point between the same, and seats collapsihly connected to said handrests, substantially as shown and described.

5. The combination, with a street car or similar vehicle, of a series of transversely arranged handrests each member of which series is at a suitable distance from the next adjoining member to enable passengers to stand at any point between the same and grasp said handrests, and seats collapsibly their connected to said handrcsts alongl y as transverse dimensions, substantia shown and described.

GEORGE CIWING. FREDERICK W. HEMPY. 

